


The Piano Player

by haircutnamedarthur



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Meetings, M/M, Music, Piano, Train Station, musician - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-15 19:49:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18505864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haircutnamedarthur/pseuds/haircutnamedarthur
Summary: Every Thursday, Yuuri comes to the train station early to listen to a piano player.  He may not know anything about music, but he does know that the pianist has captivated him.





	The Piano Player

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This is an AU that I've had in mind for a while and I really enjoyed writing it! I hope that you enjoy reading it, too!

Yuuri hurried up the stairs from the subway to the main floor of the train station.  He had already come as early as he could, but he didn’t want to waste time.  _I hope he’s there,_ Yuuri thought, _he’s there most Thursdays…_

Reaching the top of the staircase, Yuuri’s heart leaped.  Among the boarding announcements and the general clamor of the train station, Yuuri heard the swirling notes of a classical song he recognized but couldn’t place.  _He’s here!_

At the front of the train station, among the fast food joints and travelers, a man in a well-tailored, pinstriped grey suit sat at a baby grand piano.  Light coming through the windows caught his silvery hair and sent it sparkling. 

Entranced, Yuuri walked until he stood at the front of the crowd waiting for their trains.  Most people didn’t pay much attention to the pianist.  They played on their phones, chatted with friends, or watched the schedule board with blank stares.  Yuuri, though, couldn’t take his eyes away.

The man played with his whole body, shoulders rolling and head bobbing as his fingers danced across the keys.  Sometimes, he threw his head back and Yuuri caught a glimpse of light blue eyes and a strong nose. 

Yuuri couldn’t help but blush.  Last Thursday, when his train was announced and Yuuri tore himself away from the performance, he worked up the courage to peek at the piano player’s face.  He didn’t think he had ever seen someone quite so handsome.  The pianist’s features were angular and the intense expression on his face as he played made him even more beautiful.  Then, he seemed to sense Yuuri looking at him and he turned.  For a second, their eyes met and Yuuri’s heart raced.  Embarrassed to be caught staring, Yuuri dropped his eyes to his dress shoes and hurried away, allowing himself to be swept along in the crowd of commuters.

Even before he’d seen his face, though, Yuuri had been kind of obsessed with coming to listen to the pianist every Thursday.  Two weeks back, the piano player hadn’t been there.  Yuuri could not remember the last time he’d felt as disappointed as he did when he walked up the stairs and no trim-waisted, silver haired piano player met him there at the top.  Disappointment mingled with worry that the pianist wasn’t coming back.

As for _why_ he was so infatuated with the piano player, Yuuri wasn’t sure.  He’d never taken much, or any really, interest in classical music, and he didn’t play the piano.

All he knew was that the man played beautifully.  Yuuri had never heard anything like it.  He never wanted to stop listening.

Seized by an impulse, Yuuri pulled a pen and a pad of paper from his briefcase and started to write.

_Dear Piano Player,_

_Every Thursday I look forward to coming here to wait for my train because it means hearing you play.  I don’t know much about music, or anything about pianos, but I do know that the way you play is so gorgeous that it makes my heart soar.  Thank you for sharing your music with the world._

_Yuuri_

Yuuri wondered if he would really be brave enough to slip it to the piano player.  Every Thursday, though, Yuuri feared it would be the last week of the pianist’s contract with the train station.  He had to thank him before he was gone forever. Yuuri would give him the note.  He had to.

Although he wished time would stop so he could listen all day, the announcement for Yuuri’s train obscured the piano music.  Nervous, Yuuri’s hand shook around the note clutched in his fingers as he approached the pianist.  Then, he paused for a moment to lay the note on the piano’s bright, lacquered surface.

There was a momentary hitch in the music as the piano player turned to look at Yuuri.  At first, he looked surprised with his mouth slightly open and his eyebrows raised. Then his face brightened, and he smiled.  For a second, Yuuri flattered himself that the pianist’s change in expression sprang from recognition.  _Don’t be silly; of course he doesn’t remember you,_ Yuuri chided himself.

The piano player looked like he wanted to say something, but Yuuri felt he had exhausted his supply of boldness for the day, if not the week or month.  He melted back into the crowd, following the current of  passengers to Platform Twelve.

~*~

Viktor read the letter over and over and over again.  He read it until he felt like the words were tattooed on his eyelids.  He read it until he could recite it from memory.  Each time he read it, his eyes lingered on the signature.

_Yuuri._

He said it out loud, enjoying the way the letters rolled off his tongue.

“Yuuri.”

“ _Yuuri._ ”

“ **Yuuri.** ”

Ever since he’d locked eyes with the gorgeous man with his thick, dark hair and huge brown eyes the week before, Viktor couldn’t get him out of his head.  Viktor wondered who he was and who dared give him permission to be that dreamy.  Thinking it was in vain, Viktor also wondered about his name.  Now he knew.  _Yuuri._

When he agreed to play the train station every Thursday, Viktor thought it would give him his fire back.  Surely playing in a train station was more… organic, somehow, than a concert hall.  Yakov said that he was absolutely insane (“No pianist of your caliber is playing in a train station!”) but Viktor didn’t care.  God knows, he had to do _something._ He felt himself going stale and he was surprised that no one hadn’t already noticed.  At his last few concerts, he’d felt like an automaton pounding away at the keys.  A player piano.  Somehow he still garnered rave reviews. 

At first the train station did help.  It was different.  There was something fun about competing with boarding announcements and business men barking into cell phones.  There were good moments, like a wide-eyed little boy completely enthralled by his performance.  It felt personal being among his audience instead of far away on a stage.

It did, however, start to get, not old, that wasn’t the right word, but the _same._ The novelty wore off.  The train station started to feel like a concert hall.  The nagging suspicion, or was it a fear, that he lost his muse came creeping back.

Then he had locked eyes with that beautiful man.  The expression in those brown eyes, framed by chunky rimmed glasses, thrilled him.  Viktor could tell the man had been _listening_.  The music was in his veins.  He _understood._ Never before had Viktor seen someone so lovely.  But before Viktor could say a word, he disappeared.

The man would come back.  He had to.  Viktor would keep playing until he did. 

And now the man had slipped through Viktor’s long, slender fingers for a second time.  But now he had a letter.  And the man had a name. 

~*~

Viktor peeked at his watch as he played the last few bars of Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet.”  _4:10_. _He must be here._   He turned to scan the crowd behind him.  Sure enough, Yuuri stood right at the front, hands in the pockets of his navy suit jacket.  Viktor made sure the piece of paper was in his own pocket.  It rustled beneath his fingers against the silk lining of the suit.

Yuuri looked surprised when Viktor’s gaze lit upon him.  Viktor flashed a grin and Yuuri offered up a timid smile when he seemed to realize that Viktor looked at _him._

“I would,” Viktor said, loudly enough to project his voice above the station’s general din, “like to dedicate this next song to Yuuri.”

Yuuri’s mouth dropped open.  Viktor enjoyed watching the blush spread across his cheeks.

Before his nerve could fail, Viktor launched into the song.  He had thought long and hard about what to play, but Viktor knew he’d made the perfect choice.  His favorite song, “Stammi Vicino.”  “Stay Close to Me.”

Viktor’s fingers flew across the keys and his heart swelled in his chest.  _This is what it’s supposed to feel like!_ The notes tumbled from his hands and he played like he had never played before.  Sensing Yuuri had moved closer, Viktor redoubled his efforts.  He played with even more intensity and emotion.

As the final notes faded, Viktor twisted to face Yuuri.  He panted slightly, but his blue eyes sparkled.  Yuuri looked shocked and delighted all at once.

“Thank you ever so much for your letter,” Viktor smiled.  Reaching into his pocket, he produced the slip of paper.  He handed it to Yuuri.  Printed carefully so there could be no mistakes, was Viktor’s name and phone number.  Yuuri’s smile was radiant.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Viktor.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that you all liked it!! Please be sure to let me know what you think! Comments quite literally make my whole entire day! I'm also on twitter @pennylanewrites if you'd like to find me there!
> 
> If you enjoyed this, please take a look at my ongoing YOI fic, Original Finish Plastic (https://archiveofourown.org/works/9279878/chapters/21031661)
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you all next time!


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